Dave believes the entire system can transform by scaling out a model that already works. The model he proposes is value-based primary care.

Two of the biggest problems he identifies are:

Rising costs for poorer benefits

The opioid crisis

Reinventing health benefit models

Employers are encouraging preventive health strategies to lower the severity, frequency, and volume of health issues.

On-site or near-site clinics dedicated to their workforces deliver this preventive strategy. Frequent, accessible care keeps people healthy and catches problems early. Better quality care leads to lower costs down the line. This reduces the need for higher-cost procedures and specialists.

Take Rosen Hotels and Resorts as an example. It adopted this on-site model and has:

“saved approximately $315 million on healthcare costs over the last 20-plus years and spent 50 percent less than the average employer, thanks to its emphasis on unlimited free primary care and… wise referrals to specialty care when it is necessary.”

Dave feels this strategy is so effective that scaling it out can even win the opioid crisis battle.

How does value-based primary care battle the opioid crisis?

One of the biggest issues in healthcare is reactive treatment by prescribing opioids as a quick fix to manage pain. But opioids don’t improve health. So, where health suffers, opioids flourish. The system then self-generates the new problem of addiction and abuse.

Quality primary care can recommend treatments like physical therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. These can reduce patients’ pain and improve their health over time, which lowers opioid use. The primary care model actually re-forms the web of relationships among employers, health providers, employees, benefits providers, and pharmaceutical companies.

At Rosen, "opioid prescriptions are at one sixth the level of the typical American employer despite having a workforce with physically demanding jobs."

It would appear we have the solution. On-site or near-site, employer-provided clinics encourage wellness and catch illness early. They reward good care over lots of it. Making that care an available benefit reduces health costs, creates healthier people, and solves certain systemic pharmaceutical abuse issues.